Previewing the 2011-2012 World Series of Poker Circuit Harveys Lake Tahoe

For the past week, Harveys Lake Tahoe has played host to the World Series of Poker Circuit. Like all the other stops, this one features 12 ring events, culminating in a $1,600 Main Event that began Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011.

The stop has already completed 75 percent of its scheduled events, and it’s already proven quite the success, especially for Alexandru Masek, who took down Event #8 for $15,236. What’s special about that win is that it marked the San Diego Law School graduate’s fourth WSOP Circuit gold ring, putting him just one win behind the all-time leader, Mark “Pegasus” Smith.

“I don’t ever look at the payout when I’m playing,” Masek said in his post victory interview. “All I look at is the (gold) ring. The win meant everything to me in this tournament.” He went on to add: “I went to the WSOP the last two years. I would love to win a gold bracelet more than anything. But in the meantime, I would love to win another ring — or two.”

Here's a look at the WSOP Circuit Harveys Lake Tahoe through the first nine events:

WSOP Circuit Harveys Lake Tahoe Ring Event #1 No-Limit Hold’em

Buy-in

Entrants

Prize Pool

$300+$45

260

$75,660

Place

Player

Hometown

Prize

1

David Clark

Dallas, TX

$18,208

2

Shawn Van Asdale

Reno, NV

$11,249

3

Prak Pich

Sacramento, CA

$8,127

4

Robert Nicholson

Castro Valley, CA

$5,981

5

Michael Rosenbach

Santa Rosa, CA

$4,481

6

Iris Kuzu

Kelseyville, CA

$3,415

7

Aryeh Cohen

Brooklyn, NY

$2,645

8

Frank Williams

Danville, CA

$2,083

9

Taylor Skeels

San Carlos, CA

$1,666

WSOP Circuit Harveys Lake Tahoe Ring Event #2 NLHE Re-Entry

Buy-in

Entrants

Prize Pool

$300+$45 (Re-Entry)

521

$151,611

Place

Player

Hometown

Prize

1

Josh Roberts

Folsom, CA

$32,300

2

Drew Caseri

Merced, CA

$19,974

3

Jedidiah Hoffman

Reno, NV

$14,592

4

Andrew Barber

Sacramento, CA

$10,817

5

Bryan Borders

Santa Rosa, CA

$8,135

6

Matthew Weber

Sacramento, CA

$6,206

7

Samuel Lee

San Francisco, CA

$4,801

8

Adriano Wise

San Jose, CA

$3,767

9

Robert Gallina

Vero Beach, FL

$2,998

WSOP Circuit Harveys Lake Tahoe Ring Event #3 H.O.R.S.E.

Buy-in

Entrants

Prize Pool

$300+$45

85

$24,735

Place

Player

Hometown

Prize

1

Mark Bonsack

Maple Valley, CA

$7,484

2

Joseph Mongkoluaaree

Minden, NV

$4,625

3

Jeffrey Cox

Reno, NV

$3,237

4

Jon Wallace

South Lake Tahoe, CA

$2,358

5

Ho Le

Sacramento, CA

$1,735

6

Robert Furia

Granada Hills, CA

$1,296

7

John Richardson

Sacramento, CA

$1,039

8

Isaac Crow

Downey, CA

$866

9

Clifford Paine

Sacramento, CA

$745

WSOP Circuit Harveys Lake Tahoe Ring Event #4 NLHE

Buy-in

Entrants

Prize Pool

$500+$55

101

$48,985

Place

Player

Hometown

Prize

1

Michael Rosenbach

Santa Rosa, CA

$13,874

2

Ian Remmel

South Lake Tahoe, CA

$8,570

3

Vincent Remmel

South Lake Tahoe, CA

$6,188

4

Darren Williams

Martinez, CA

$4,545

5

Steve Johnson

Northridge, CA

$3,395

6

Anthony Winters

Patterson, CA

$2,555

7

Julius Estrada

Alameda, CA

$1,965

8

Joshua Pender

Rockhill, SC

$1,539

9

Donald McCormack

Perris, CA

$1,227

WSOP Circuit Harveys Lake Tahoe Ring Event #5 NLHE

Buy-in

Entrants

Prize Pool

$300+$45

188

$54,708

Place

Player

Hometown

Prize

1

Daniel Aran

San Jose, CA

$13,874

2

Dan Natarelli

Simi Valley, CA

$8,570

3

Ziv Fromovich

Sunnyvale, CA

$6,188

4

Stephen Knapp

Rancho Cordova, CA

$4,545

5

Gregory Derov

Reno, NV

$3,395

6

Vincent Fucillo

Merced, CA

$2,580

7

Christopher Simone

San Jose, CA

$1,993

8

Jeremy Davis

Tucson, AZ

$1,565

9

Sean Drake

Sacramento, CA

$1,249

WSOP Circuit Harveys Lake Tahoe Ring Event #6 NLHE

Buy-in

Entrants

Prize Pool

$300+$45

221

$64,311

Place

Player

Hometown

Prize

1

Rudy Sisson

Sacramento, CA

$15,741

2

Reid Harris III

St. Simons, GA

$9,729

3

Aryeh Cohen

Brooklyn, NY

$7,081

4

Jimmy Rogers

Payson, AZ

$5,236

5

Paul Evans

Mount Shasta, CA

$3,933

6

Peter Sullivan

Roscoe, IL

$3,000

7

Jeffrey Surdez

Discovery Bay, CA

$2,323

8

Gary Isaacson

Brentwood, CA

$1,826

9

Jarrett Fenlon

Richmond, CA

$1,456

WSOP Circuit Harveys Lake Tahoe Ring Event #7 NLHE

Buy-in

Entrants

Prize Pool

$300+$45

199

$57,909

Place

Player

Hometown

Prize

1

Nicholas Long

South Lake Tahoe, CA

$14,705

2

Steve Kujubu

Sacramento, CA

$9,084

3

Ivan Holmes

Berkeley, CA

$6,559

4

Merwick J. Black

Pollock Pines, CA

$4,817

5

Clay Richardson

South Lake Tahoe, CA

$3,599

6

Paul Kossluk

Ashland, OR

$2,735

7

Joshua Roberts

Garland, TX

$2,122

8

Neil Curran

Park City, UT

$1,659

9

Beverly Cheney

Grandbury, TX

$1,323

WSOP Circuit Harveys Lake Tahoe Ring Event #8 NLHE

Buy-in

Entrants

Prize Pool

$300+$45

206

$59,946

Place

Player

Hometown

Prize

1

Alexandru Masek

San Diego, CA

$15,236

2

Scott Stewart

Lakewood, CA

$9,411

3

David Holder

Norman, OK

$6,795

4

Gregory Sayabalian

Gardnerville, NV

$4,991

5

Brett Schwertley

Omaha, NE

$3,728

6

Garilyn Nelson

Ogden, UT

$2,835

7

Shain Matthews

Marysville, CA

$2,189

8

Rex Clinkscales

Las Vegas, NV

$1,719

9

George Saca

Sacramento, CA

$1,371

WSOP Circuit Harveys Lake Tahoe Ring Event #9 NLHE

Buy-in

Entrants

Prize Pool

$300+$45

186

$54,126

Place

Player

Hometown

Prize

1

Troy Declue

Wildomar, CA

$13,724

2

Jeffrey Rowland

Fortville, IN

$8,476

3

Manuel Lozano

Santa Monica, CA

$6,120

4

Erie Mankin

Sacramento, CA

$4,495

5

David Williams

Palo Cedro

$3,358

6

David Brody

Las Vegas, NV

$2,552

7

Leonard Swisher

Modesto

$1,971

8

Travis Atkins

Placerville, CA

$1,548

9

Rip Fritzer

La Mesa, CA

$1,235

With three events yet to be determined, the race for the WSOP Circuit Hammond Casino Champion is wide open. Whoever captures that title, along with the eventual winner of the Main Event, will automatically qualify for the Second Annual $1 Million National Championship. That event is limited to 100 players, and so far only six have qualified:

National Championship Qualifiers

Player

Qualified

David Nicholson

Horseshoe Bossier City Main Event Winner

Chris Gamboa

Horseshoe Bossier City Casino Champion

Robert Castoire

Horseshoe Southern Indiana Main Event Winner

Mark “Pegasus” Smith

Horseshoe Southern Indiana Casino Champion

Bob Chow

Horseshoe Hammond Main Event Winner

Drazen Ilich

Horseshoe Hammond Casino Champion

Gene Dudek

IP Biloxi Casino Champion

Jerry Monroe

IP Biloxi Main Event Winner

In addition to the qualifiers, players who earn enough points on the National Leaderboard will be able to buy-in to the National Championship:

WSOPC National Leaderboard Top Ten*

Player

Points

Rings

Cashed

Earnings

Felicia Johnico

107.5

1

4

$21,998

Beverly Cheney

105

0

5

$27,117

Russell Ivy

102.5

0

4

$65,035

Thomas Cronin

95

0

4

$21,396

Peter Mavro

87.5

0

5

$11,892

Benjamin Kramer

85

1

4

$28,848

John Evans

85

0

4

$11,921

Scott Schwalich

80

1

3

$34,846

Robert Newman

77.5

1

3

$29,930

David Clark

77.5

1

3

$21,143

*Leading up to the WSOP Circuit Harveys Lake Tahoe stop.

Don’t miss your chance to qualify for the National Championship. There are still plenty of opportunities to play, including any of the remaining stops on the WSOP Circuit schedule.

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